captive | d.m.

chapter 18

-Terra-

Pansy Parkinson stared at me with unblinking eyes. Blaise shifted from beside me. It was like some awkward Slytherin reunion minus Ambretta Sphinx and Theo Nott...I guess.

Pansy cocked her head to the side in mild surprise and drowsiness. "Zatara." Her eyes scanned the scarred part of my face down to my baggy robes. She was at a loss for words.

So was I. I opened and closed my mouth, eyes darting from the chair back up to the bedridden Pansy. I had no clue what to say but I guess I managed to get a word out.

"Hi."

She shifted her weight, trying to sit up and failing. And it was then I remembered that I was standing beside her in the dead of the night, wondering why she wasn't at St. Mungo's instead. She looked like she'd been awkwardly sewn back together. Had she...fought in the war?

"What happened to your face?"

"Pans!" Blaise hissed.

"No, it's fine," I uttered. It really was. She was the first person to look at me, speak to me without treating me like I'm fragile and expensive glassware. She was blunt and straight to the point. It made me feel sane again. "Acid Curse to the face, from beloved Voldemort."

Her lips twitched. "You didn't deserve it."

"I know." But that's not what I wanted to talk about. I eyed the empty chair again and wondered if it was warm.

"None of it."

"I know," I repeated. I glanced over her. "And you? Why do you look like a bruised fruit?"

A snort escaped her and Blaise relaxed only slightly from beside me. "Some desperate attempt to save Theo's arse. Although Zabini over here won't give me any information as to how the git is actually doing."

I turned my head to see Blaise rocking back and forth on his heels, looking everywhere but at her.

"Theo? What happened to you both? Did you participate in the battle?"

Had they actually fought Death Eaters? Went against their own parents? I wasn't surprised to see Blaise. But never in a million years did I ever consider Pansy Parkinson to be one of them. Or Theo Nott for that matter.

"No need to sound so surprised," she tutted. "I know I'm a bitch but it was either here or there with Father Parkinson, who clearly loves me so dearly."

"I thought you stayed for Theo," Blaise murmured.

I felt the baby push against my bladder. This was not why I was standing here. I was standing here because I heard a name, a familiar one. And also a voice. Specifically a male one.

Pansy began to jump into an answer but I interrupted her in the most non-rude way I could muster. "I'm sorry. But were you speaking to someone before I entered? I heard voices."

Pansy paused. Her eyes flickered to Blaise and I could almost make out the slight shake of his head. I stepped forward. I'd had enough of this bullshit. An Acid Curse to the face, the death of my whole family, a surprise pregnancy. I hadn't broken yet had I? Maybe I was unbreakable. Or maybe just lucky.

"Cut the crap," I bristled. My emotions were rising to the surface and I fought to push them down. I needed answers. I just wanted fucking answers. "I heard you, I heard what you said. You said Malfoy. He's dead I...he's supposed to be...dead." My heartbeat rose as I grasped the bedpost for support.

Pansy knitted her brows in confusion. "You...you what?" She sat up straighter. "You think he's dead?"

Her words jumbled themselves in my head as I fought for air and tried to unscramble them. "He'd told me. Voldemort. And--and Narcissa. She'd visited me when I was taken. Told me you were all...being held captive in the dungeons...and Draco..." My hands fell to the sheets near Pansy's legs and I fisted them.